‘RCB had put a lot of pressure on us’ – Nehal Wadhera opens up on his match-winning knock in IPL 2025

Star Punjab Kings (PBKS) batter Nehal Wadhera recently reflected on his performance against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in the IPL 2025. The star batter claimed he loves playing under difficult situations and felt it was essential to win challenging matches to be considered for India.

Notably, the southpaw scored 33 runs off 19 balls, which helped PBKS beat RCB in a rain-affected game. He revealed what Ricky Ponting said to him and how he reacted to the situation. The southpaw claimed that he had to take the initiative as PBKS were under pressure.

The Punjab-based batter felt he had the responsibility to up the ante and put pressure back on the RCB bowlers. Wadhera said he knew Suyash Sharma would bowl only googlies and took the opportunity to hit several sixes straight down the ground.

"I love playing under tough situations. We all know the ones who can win matches from tough situations are the ones who go on to play for India. I think that before batting, the coach came to me and he told me, 'Nehal, we just need a run-a-ball. You can just go easy.' I said, 'Okay, coach', but as soon as I went inside, I felt that RCB had put a lot of pressure on us at that time," Wadhera was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz.

"So, I thought that now that I have come in, the bowling match-ups are to my advantage, and it's my responsibility now to transfer that pressure back onto RCB. So, as soon as Suyash came, I knew that he was just trying to throw in googlies, and it would be easy for me to hit him for a six straight down," he further added.

Nehal Wadhera speaks on the relationship between Shreyas Iyer and Ricky Ponting

He then spoke about the captain-coach duo of Shreyas Iyer and Ricky Ponting. Nehal Wadhera felt Iyer and Ponting had a great bond with each other and replicated the same with the team members. Wadhera felt he had returned to family and never had the feeling of playing for PBKS for the first time in his career. He felt it had helped the team members bond well and play with pride.

"Shreyas Iyer is a great captain. And I think the combination he is forming with Ricky Ponting is also really good, because they have already, you know, been a team together at DC as well," the PBKS batter continued.

"They have a really good bond between themselves, and they are sharing a good connection with us, the newcomers like me who are playing for Punjab Kings for the first time. I mean, when I came to the Punjab Kings, I never felt that I was a new guy joining a team; instead, I always felt like part of a family here," Wadhera concluded.